Web campaign secures Iranian teen's release

Online donations do the trick for Nazanin Fatehi

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Well done to all those Reg readers who donated cash to the campaign to release Iranian teenager Nazanin Fatehi, who secured her freedom on Wednesday.

Fatehi was in January 2006 "sentenced to death for murder by court in Iran after she stabbed one of three men who attempted to rape her and her 16-year-old niece in a park in Karaj (a suburb of Tehran) in March 2005".

A retrial spared her the rope, but she remained in prison until supporters could raise 400m Rials (approx $43,000) bail.

Well, thanks to an extensive web and press campaign, the Help Nazanin site collected "$31,000 USD in online donations, $1,000 in cheques and $1,000 in Iran". Member of Canadian Parliament Belinda Stronach generously covered the rest of the amount, and Fatehi is now back with her family.

Help Nazanin has an update here, complete with heartwarming pictures. All those who donated can award themselves a well-deserved pint. ®